Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Summer, for real

It is way too hot (says the Pacific Northwest girl). 90+ degree weather with high humidity is in the forecast as far as we can see. I have been running regularly in the evenings even though it was frequently still 85 degrees at 7 pm, but this is finally too much. (In the winter I go out as long as the temp + windchill is above 20, and there is no ice on the sidewalks. I think this is very devoted and athletic of me.)

Brooks runs with me most of the time now, and he can almost keep up. Last week we went out only moments before a truly torrential downpour, which struck when we were too far to go back home. Within minutes, we were so completely drenched that I couldn't even see for all the water running into my eyes. Brooks didn't have a cover for his iPhone, so we sloshed three blocks over to the health food store and I went in, dripping profusely, to ask for a plastic bag. They charge for grocery bags in the District now and I had no money on me, but the situation was apparent and they took pity. Not too much later, the rain let up enough to finish the circuit with no ill effects.

My garden is growing splendidly. The zucchini plants are positively enormous -- I swear they were doubling in size every day for a while. In the middle of the day, everything wilts and sags onto the ground, but in the evening they stand right back up again. (I do look at them several times a day, but as promised I spare you pictures. Also it's the middle of the night.) I've harvested all of 5 freakishly early yellow cherry tomatoes; they were like beads of sunshine but I don't expect more for several weeks. But to tide me over, the farmers' market has opened, so I make sure to go every Tuesday afternoon. Last week they had Queen Anne cherries; this week there were apricots. I've decided that I must have an apricot tree someday.

Today I also got carried away and brought home a 20-pound flat of tomatoes. They sell the ones with bad spots for $0.69 a pound, but you have to buy a whole flat. In retrospect, that does seem like a lot of tomatoes for two people. If it weren't SO HOT and if I knew how to can, I would can them, because you can't even get grocery store tomatoes that cheap, fresh or canned. But alas, canning is one of the few domestic skills I never learned. Mom canned fruit (applesauce, peaches, jam) when I was too young to help, and by the time I was old enough she'd given up and switched to freezer jams. I tried once with strawberry jam but I don't think it really sealed all the way. Anyway, we will at least have vats of gazpacho to help us through the heat wave. I have a fantastic recipe (the secret is sherry vinegar). And salsa. And hummus and tomato sandwiches. And did I mention that it's hot?